The Dogs of Cuba

As I mentioned in my previous post, I signed on for a documentary photography workshop in Cuba at the last minute.  It was not until I was on the plane that I even looked at some of the suggested ideas for a documentary piece.  Every subject idea required extensive research and preparation, and most would require either a knowledge of Spanish, or an interpreter.  I had neither.  Since we were already in the air, I had no choice but to stay open, and hope that an idea would come to me.

Our first day in Havana was spent doing what most people do in a new city -- getting oriented.  That's when my subject idea came to me - literally, walked right up to me.  In fact, this particular subject was everywhere.  The Dogs of Cuba were like little magnets for me -- almost like my camera was set on 'Auto-Dog'.  Maybe it was as simple as the fact that I love dogs and can speak Dog (unlike Spanish). 

The truth is, I had never seen a culture so integrated with dogs, and I loved it. 

Most of the Cuban dogs wore clothes.  Few wore leashes, which was fine -- there was no need for leashes with these dogs.  They were simply part of the larger Cuban community, walking right along with the human pedestrian traffic, definitely on their way to somewhere.  I never saw a dog chase a car, or bark at a person.  Verrrrrrry civilized, these dogs.

If you've never visited a third-world country (which Cuba is) it's hard to understand that level of poverty until you see it.  Yet, they clothe their dogs. 

Notice Josephine is wearing no clothes in this shot.  But she sure had the cutest red bow tied around her t-shirt when I met her one night with her person, Daisy.  When Daisy found out I was from America, we had our special bond.  The more we talked, the more she wanted to get together again.  Daisy wanted to practice her English, and I wanted to get inside the home of a dog to see how they lived.  We set a time for me to photograph Josephine in her home, and to practice English with Daisy.  When I arrived, Josephine had no clothes on.  I asked Daisy about this, and she said that she had given Josephine a bath so that she would be beautiful for her shoot.  She was so proud of how clean and pretty Josephine looked (Josephine was pretty proud, too), that I could not bear to ask her to cover all that beauty with clothes.  In this shot, they are dancing :)

'Dog' as a subject travels very nicely -- all over Cuba.  Believe it or not, my subject was in every little village and town we traveled to ;)  I did notice that only the 'city-dogs' -- the ones in Havana -- had on clothes.  Still, there were some mighty cute subjects outside the city.  This little guy is in Trinidad, Cuba.

Ok.  So maybe the puppies didn't have clothes either, even this city-puppy. 


In the end, Dog as subject was fun and engaging and full of the love-connection for me in a country I did not speak the language.  I love the Dogs of Cuba -- such delightful bridges between distant cultures, providing a connection that surely is Rife with Life.